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Posted By
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April 29, 2008, 10:10 am
Flag as Inappropriate Annabelle
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Subject
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Mixing Pain Killers
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A friend was telling me how she'd been taking several different over-the-counter pain killers instead of just going in to get her prescription renewed. I know you can take different ones sometimes (like both aspirin and ibuprofen). Are there combinations she should 'not' take, though?
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Comments
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April 29, 2008, 10:44 am
Flag as Inappropriate ewills says...
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It is never a good idea to mix pain killers. The number one cause of sudden gastrointestinal bleeding in the absence of an ulcerous condition is over the counter pain killers. This can be either because the particular person's tolerance has been exceeded, because the dosage is too high, or because of drug mixing.
Tylenol (which is in vicodin, aka hydrocodone ap/ap) should never be mixed with ibuprofen (which is in vicoprofen, aka hydrocodone and ibuprofen), and these should not be mixed with aspirin. None of these should be mixed with any non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) like naprosyn/naproxen or COX II inhibitors. Narcotic pain medications tend not to have these cross reactions, but they're almost always mixed with some painkiller that's available over the counter.
If you have a prescription for pain medication, or are using over the counter treatments and you're not getting any relief, talk to your doctor before upping the dose or adding to the mix. Pain relief is a legitimate goal of medical care, so step right up and be plain about it.
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April 29, 2008, 12:56 pm
Flag as Inappropriate michelle says...
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But can't you alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen every 2 hours? Normally the dosage of Tylenol would be every 4-6 hours but I thought if you alternated with the ibuprofen that was ok?
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April 30, 2008, 9:06 am
Flag as Inappropriate Kathy22 says...
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Alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen is usually recommended only in specific cases and should only be done at the recommendation of the doctor. I know of one incident for my niece where the doctor recommended this treatment when she had a throat infection and high fever. He recommended the 2 hour rotation but only for a few hours to try to bring her fever down quickly.
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April 30, 2008, 3:48 pm
Flag as Inappropriate hect says...
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I think I have to agree here alternate is something done seldom and only if really needed. The last time I was on pain meds and muscle relaxers, mixing them really messed things up for me. Bad bad idea.
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May 1, 2008, 3:35 pm
Flag as Inappropriate KaraW says...
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I've been given the recommendation for alternating tylenol and ibuprophen in a child too. I didn't know it was dangerous, that's really scary.
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May 7, 2008, 7:43 pm
Flag as Inappropriate K to the J says...
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I've always heard that mixing any type of medication together is a bad idea and may cause liver damage and/or bleeding.
Mixing Tylenol and Ibuprofen is a horrible idea, as they're two completely different ingredients that do the same thing. It wouldn't make sense to have a need to have both!
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